Improvement in fiee-plugs



A @uiten tutes tttwt @ffice Letters Patent No. 78,393, dated May 26, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT in FIRE-PLUGS.

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TO ALL WHOM. IT MAY CONCERN':

i Be it known that I, JOHN H. RHODES, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulmprovement in Hydrants for Firedngines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of' the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a portion of this specification, in which I Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a hydrant made accordingte my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of one portion ot the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention consists in e. hydrant, having its lower end working on a universal `ioint, communicating with the wate1'.nain,.and its upper end supported by suitable springs, in such manner that the hydrant is enabled to yield or more laterally to the impulse communicated thereto by the unequal ovv of the water in the hose or pipe connecting the same with the tire-engine, when in use, and induced by the action of the pumpvalves of" such engine; the destructive `jarring incident to the ordinary hydrant from this causo being by this means entirely avoided.

To enable others to understand the nature and cbnstruction of my invention, I will proceed to describe it withreference to the drawings.

A represents the Water-main, with which the hydrant is connected, and which 'has formed upon it a shell, (t, soshapedas to constitute the outer portion of a hall-and-socketjoint,.the inner portion of whichV is formed by the bulb-shaped lower end a* ofthe hydrant d3; this ball-and-soclietjoint enabling the hydrant, within certain limits, to move or tilt laterally, as will be hereinafter further set forth. Placed around thehydrants a casing, C, of any Asuitable material, and which has an opening, Z, provided in its top, through which the upper end of the hydrant extends, as shown more fully-in iig. 1; the hydrant, under ordinary circumstances, being retained in a vertical position, at or near the centre of the opening, by springs, indicated at c, and arranged within the opening and around the hydrant, as represented more fully in tig. 2. These springs maybe of any suitable construction, but preferably made as shown in tig. 3, in which d is a cylindrical case, having passed longitudinally therethrough a rod, e, provided with a collar or iianchhf, between which and the opposite end of the case cl, and surrounding the rod e, is a tubular piece or block, 6*, of India rubber or equivalent material. The cases d being tted'into suitable cavities provided in the sides of the opening E', and with the ends o` the rods e in contact with the sides ofthe hydrant, the India-rubber pieces or bloei-:s e* are enabled to act upon the rods e, and, by their elasticity, retain the hydrant in position, as hcreinbefore mentioned.

The hydrant may be furnished with any desired number oi' suitable nozzles, g, and, when thought proper, the main, A, may be furnished with a stop-cocl at z', operated, when required, by a vertical roo, m, extending up through the top ofthe casing O.

When the hydrant is connected with the tire-engine, by the ordinary or any suitable means, the throbbing or irregular movement communicated to the current of water, in its passage to the pump ot' the engine, by the action of the valves of such pump, instead ot' jarring and consequently injuring the hydrant, as is foundl to be the case when the latter is permanently ixed,serves only to slightly move the same laterally, the springs surreundingthe upper part thereofyielding sulhciently to permit such lateral movement in any direction.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- The hydrant, having'its lower end working on a universal joint communicating with the water-main, and its upper end sustained by suitable springs, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' JOHN n. Briones.

Witnesses:

SAML. T. Warnunousn, DANIEL SMITH. 

